Turkey will continue to refuse trade privileges to Cyprus unless the EU eases the economic isolation of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Thursday.
"We will maintain our determined position on this issue," Babacan, during a one-day visit to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), told reporters after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
"No one should expect unilateral steps from Turkey, there will be no such steps," he said. Last year, the EU froze accession talks with Turkey in eight of the 35 policy areas that candidates must negotiate in response to Ankara's refusal to allow Greek Cypriot vessels to use its sea and air ports under a customs union pact with the bloc.
Ankara counters that the European Union has failed to keep pledges of easing the economic isolation by channelling aid to the TRNC, which is recognised only by Turkey. The EU made the promises in April 2004 as a reward to the "yes" vote that Turkish Cypriots gave to a UN-drafted peace plan to end Cyprus's long-standing partition.
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